Re-engining competitors vie to keep these U.S. nuclear, conventional workhorses fl ying past 2050 PAGE 24 - AIAA
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT 18 Q&A 14 WEATHER FORECASTING 32
The year of Commercial Crew OneWeb’s satellite maker Radio occultation explained
Re-engining competitors vie to keep these U.S. nuclear,
conventional workhorses flying past 2050 PAGE 24
FEBRUARY 2019 | A publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org
AIAA CONGRESSIONAL
WEDNESDAY, 20 MARCH VISITS DAY
Advocate for Aerospace on Capitol Hill
Every year, AIAA members—engineers, scientists, researchers, students,
educators, and technology executives—travel to Washington, DC, for a day
of advocacy and awareness with national decision makers. Spend a day
meeting with new and established congressional members and their staff.
Your participation, enthusiasm, and passion remind our lawmakers
that aerospace is a key component of an economically strong and
secure nation. If you are interested in the future of your profession,
the advancement of technology, the furthering of scientific research,
and the strengthening of our nation’s security, this event is for you!
Travel subsidies are available
“ Participating in CVD was
like getting a bird’s eye view
of a grand and magnificent
national aerospace project.
I knew that my contribution
might be small, but being
a voice of the aerospace
community filled my heart
”
with immense pride and
humility at the same time.
RUCHIR GOSWAMI
PhD Candidate
Iowa State University
REGISTER NOW
aiaa.org/CVD2019
FEATURES | February 2019 MORE AT aerospaceamerica. aiaa.org
U.S. Air Force
24
New engines
18
Commercial
Crew’s payoff
32
Radio occultation
is put to the test
40
The cost of
aerospace
advances
for the B-52 NASA looks to 2019 Entrepreneurs aim
as the year it might to prove that the
An aerospace expert
be liberated from technique is accurate
gives his take on
The U.S. Air Force has examined depending on Russia enough to aid weather
planning for the
the possibility of re-engining these to send astronauts forecasters.
side effects of rapid
mammoth bombers since the into space.
breakthroughs in
1970s. Now, the plan is to replace By Debra Werner
air travel and space
By Amanda Miller
the fleet’s TF33s with commercial exploration.
engines, and the need is growing
urgent. By Amir S. Gohardani
By Jan Tegler
On the cover: A B-52H Stratofortress takes off from Minot Air Force
Base, N.D.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force
aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 1
Check out the newest
book releases from AIAA! AEROSPACE RESEARCH CENTRAL
Aerospace Materials A
and Applications T
Biliyarr N. Bhat Ja
Da
AIAA Member Price: $94.95 Br
List Price: $134.95
AIAA Member Price: $84.95
List Price: $109.95
Aircraft Design: A Conceptual In
Approach, Sixth Edition T
S
Daniell Raymer
M
AIAA Member Price: $84.95
List Price: $114.95 AIAA Member Price: $84.95
List Price: $109.95
AeroDynamic: S
Inside the High-Stakes Global
St
Jetliner Ecosystem
AIAA Member Price: $89.95
Kevin Michaels
List Price: $119.95
AIAA Member Price: $29.95
List Price: $39.95
Advances in Computational A
Intelligence and Autonomy for Sy
Aerospace Systems
Ha
John Valasek
AIAA Member Price: $84.95
AIAA Member Price: $89.95 List Price: $109.95
List Price: $119.95
Look for these and all other AIAA published titles at
arc.aiaa.org
AIAA members get special pricing on all titles.
AEROSPACE
★ ★ ★ A M E R I C A ★ ★ ★
IN THIS ISSUE
F EB R U A RY 2 0 1 9 , V O L . 57 , NO. 2
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Amanda Miller
Ben Iannotta Amanda is a freelance reporter and editor based near Denver with 20 years
beni@aiaa.org of experience at weekly and daily publications.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR PAGE 18
Karen Small
karens@aiaa.org
EDITOR, AIAA BULLETIN
Christine Williams Jan Tegler
christinew@aiaa.org
Jan covers a variety of subjects including defense for publications internationally.
EDITOR EMERITUS He’s a frequent contributor to Defense Media Network/Faircount Media Group and
Jerry Grey is the author of the book “B-47 Stratojet: Boeing’s Brilliant Bomber.”
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PAGE 24
Robert van der Linden,
Amanda Miller, Jan Tegler,
Debra Werner, Frank H. Winter
Debra Werner
John Langford AIAA PRESIDENT A frequent contributor to Aerospace America, Debra is also a West Coast
Daniel L. Dumbacher PUBLISHER correspondent for Space News.
Rodger S. Williams DEPUTY PUBLISHER PAGES 9, 32, 64
ADVERTISING
advertising@aiaa.org
DEPARTMENTS
ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN
THOR Design Studio | thor.design
MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION
AEROPUZZLER
Association Vision | associationvision.com
8
Why don’t airliners fly off into space?
LETTERS AND CORRESPONDENCE
Ben Iannotta, beni@aiaa.org
9 TRENDING
Travelers in the Canadian Rockies are among
the broadband customers beginning to take
full advantage of Iridium NEXT’s complete
constellation.
10 14
Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly
except in August by the American Institute of Aeronautics
4 Editor’s Notebook
and Astronautics, Inc., at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite
200 Reston, VA 20191-5807 [703-264-7500]. Subscription
rate is 50% of dues for AIAA members (and is not deductible
5 Letter to the Editor Forum highlights Q&A
therefrom). Nonmember subscription price: U.S., $200; Urban air mobility, OneWeb Satellites
foreign, $220. Single copies $20 each. Postmaster: Send 7 Flight Path artificial intelligence CEO Tony Gingiss
address changes and subscription orders to Aerospace were hot topics on his company’s
America, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, at AIAA’s SciTech Forum manufacturing
at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA, 20191-5807, 47 AIAA Bulletin techniques
Attn: A.I.A.A. Customer Service. Periodical postage
paid at Reston, Virginia, and at additional mailing
offices. Copyright 2019 by the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., all rights reserved.
The name Aerospace America is registered by the AIAA
62 Looking Back
40 64
in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Opinion Trajectories
Measuring the effects Space Tango co-founder
of technology on the and chief executive
environment and other Twyman Clements
societal concerns
aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 3
EDITOR ’S NOTEBOOK TECHNOLOGY
The U.S. Air Force
Flying commercial plans to install
commercial jet
engines on its B-52
Stratofortress fleet.
U.S. Air Force
his issue of the magazine has me thinking about society’s willingness to trust commercial
T
technology for safe travels in air, orbit and deep space.
We’re about to find out if B-52s manufactured in the 1960s can be made to fly safely for
100 years or more in part by installing commercial jet engines on them. The U.S. needs to get
this one right to assure the effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrence mission for decades
to come, assuming humanity doesn’t come to its senses and figure out how to banish these weapons.
In other matters, we’re about to learn if we can trust privately owned rockets and capsules to launch
NASA astronauts and someday regular (if well-heeled) people into space. The Commercial Crew program
represents an early start down that path. Our feature shows the stakes and the milestones that Boeing
and SpaceX are facing this year.
My thinking is that we ought to be able to trust the private sector to perform well in this area, provided
we set up a regulatory framework equivalent to the one that has made air travel so amazingly safe. Of
course, a challenge is that reaching space and flying through it might always be more technically daunting
and therefore risky than air travel. Launch costs could remain prohibitively high, because of the required
safety measures. Those measures depend on humanity’s risk tolerance for space travel, which I don’t
think we fully understand yet.
Even if launch costs and risks aren’t slashed as much as hoped, all is not lost for scientific exploration
and commercial exploitation of space. We might need to shift our definition of what constitutes a multi-
planet species. Instead of millions of people living in lava tubes on Mars or aboard a village on the moon
or digging at asteroids, perhaps handfuls of explorers and space tourists will venture out there to give
humanity the emotional satisfaction of in-situ presence. Instead of robots preparing the way for us, maybe
it will be the other way around. Market realities could drive humanity toward robotics, automation and
augmented reality as means of establishing a permanent presence in deep space. We can accept higher
risks when we send inanimate investments to deep space. Government researchers and commercial en-
trepreneurs are making so much progress on optical communications, artificial intelligence and virtual
reality that such a shift might not be as disappointing as it seems today.
We’re becoming extraterrestrials any way you look at it. ★
Ben Iannotta, editor-in-chief, beni@aiaa.org
4 | FEB RUARY 2019 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
COVER STORY Lufthansa, for example, at their Frankfurt, Germany, hub and these
Geared turbofan engines power
issues have been painful. Also, the article made a brief reference to
Airbus A320neos, Airbus A220s
and Embraer E190-E2s.
Pratt & Whitney
Early troubles with the non-geared CFM LEAP Engine, but it should have noted that
Pratt & Whitney’s
geared turbofan the LEAP introduction into service was considerably smoother
jet engines have
not slowed than that of the GTF. In addition, while some better efficiencies are
the aviation
industry’s growing associated with a lighter-loaded GTF low-pressure turbine, there
enthusiasm for
this fuel-saving
technology. Keith
are inherent losses associated with the gearbox. These losses are
Button set out to
find out why.
magnified as one goes to larger power plants like the one needed
BY KEITH BUTTON | buttonkeith@gmail.com
for a Boeing NMA (New Mid-Market Airplane). After numerous
A
HIGH GEAR
(10 to 20?) years of development on the geared fan, the fuel-sav-
t plants in Canada, Germa-
ny and the United States,
Pratt & Whitney continues
to build the first geared
turbofans large enough to
ing-technology advantage has not been demonstrated for the GTF.
propel twin-engine sin-
gle-aisle airliners. So far,
the engines are powering at least 220 passenger
jets for 26 airlines, and Pratt & Whitney’s peers
plan to follow suit with their own geared engines
The article also provided an incomplete description of the GE90’s
in coming years.
The industry is watching how Pratt & Whitney
has handled the mammoth engineering task,
tracking whether the new engine’s operational
issues are hiccups or a sign of larger problems,
history, quoting someone calling the GE90 “an absolute pig, when
and learning from Pratt & Whitney’s hardships
and successes with its Pure Power PW1000G series
or GTFs, short for geared turbofans.
22 | OC TOB ER 201 8 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | OC TOB ER 201 8 | 23
introduced.” The GE90 indeed had a number of teething problems
in the factory, but it turned out to be the most reliable high bypass
Straight talk about engine in the field. The proof is in the fact that with the original
version of the Boeing 777 aircraft, there were three competing power
geared turbofans plants. The power plant of choice on all subsequent versions of the
Boeing 777, including the new 777 X, has been the GE90.
M.J. Benzakein
found the article “High Gear” [October] to be one-sided in AIAA fellow
I some parts and uninformed in others.
The article was one-sided in that it did not give enough
attention to the serious issues experienced by the first GTF
[geared turbofan] customers. There have been real issues for
New Albany, Ohio
Editor’s note: Benzakein was the chief engineer at General
Electric Aircraft Engines for the GE90 engine program.
EAA’S INNOVATION SHOWCASE
COMPLIMENTARY EXHIBIT SPACE
JULY 22-28
Will YOUR
DISCOVERY
change the world of aviation?
Showcase and launch your innovative discovery to more than 600,000
aviation enthusiasts, pilots, and thousands of industry professionals in
EAA’s Innovation Showcase at EAA® AirVenture® Oshkosh™ 2019 —
the World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration®.
Apply for complimentary exhibit space by April 1 at EAA.org/Innovation.
For more information about AirVenture, visit AirVenture.org.
aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 5
7–9 MAY
2019
LAUREL, MD
Expanding Decisive and Sustained
Advantage Through Innovation
The 2019 forum, to be held 7-9 May at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory in Laurel, MD, will use the 2018 National Defense Strategy as a framework to
discuss the strategic, programmatic, and technical topics and policy issues pertaining
to the aerospace and defense community. This Secret/NoForn event provides a venue
for leaders from government, military, industry and academia to explore aerospace
technologies and their application to complex national security challenges.
Program Topics Include: Sponsored by:
› Department of Defense Research and Engineering
Enterprise Technical Priorities
› Hypersonics
› Acquisition and Sustainment at the Speed of Relevance
› The Warfighter Perspective: Operational Needs and
Military Requirements
› Missile Defense in the New World Order
› And much more!
REGISTER NOW!
defense.aiaa.org/register
FLIGHT PATH
Turning Challenges
into Success
’m sure you remember, as I do, the first time you pre- curated aerospace content, and being the authority in technology
I
sented a research paper. It’s a defining moment — the and capability advancement. We’re focused on transformative
thought and hard work you put into your research with flight, air mobility and autonomy, and the space ecosystem.
the intent of advancing the conversation. For many To accomplish this, we ask you to make your voice heard.
students, an AIAA Regional Student Paper Conference It’s time to vote! You’ll be voting for a new President-Elect and
is the first opportunity for them to receive that all-important openings on the AIAA Council of Directors. AIAA is fortunate to
professional feedback on their research and presentation style. have such dedicated and qualified leaders who give their time
It’s their first taste of presenting their own work and what it can and expertise to help this organization flourish. Your choices for
mean to their careers and to the aerospace community. President-Elect are: Basil Hassan of Sandia National Laboratories,
I’m calling on you to support the AIAA Regional Student Paper George Nield of Commercial Space Technologies, LLC, and Wanda
Conferences and participate by working with students, who also Sigur of Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired). Detailed informa-
may be able to teach you something new. Abstracts for many of tion on the President-Elect and Council of Directors candidates
the regional conferences are due this month and the Region I– can be found at aiaa.org/2019-AIAA-Election.
Region VI conferences take place in March and April (aiaa.org/ The 2019 AIAA SciTech Forum was a rousing success because
StudentConferences). of our members. When the federal government shut down and
The student conference schedule is: 29–31 March in Austin, caused speakers, presenters, and attendees to cancel their plans,
Texas, for Region IV; 4–5 April in Cocoa Beach, Florida, for Region we sent out a call to the technical committees to fill the gaps. The
II; 4–5 April in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for Region V; 5–7 April TCs stepped up and then some. Thank you!
in Cleveland, Ohio, for Region III; 5–6 April 2019 in College Park, Even with the government shutdown, we had a record-break-
Maryland, for Region I; 6–7 April in San Luis Obispo, California, ing 4,500 attendees, including more than 1,400 undergraduate
for Region VI. and graduate students. I learned more about how on demand is
If you can’t attend a conference, reach out to student branches transforming aerospace. There were five plenary sessions, nine
in your region to discuss your aerospace experiences. Students Forum 360s, and about 500 technical sessions, which featured
appreciate hearing your stories from the engineering and per- more than 2,300 paper presentations. This year has begun with
sonal perspectives. challenges and success, a fitting combination for aerospace. I’m
AIAA and the aerospace community are dedicated to devel- looking forward to what’s next!
oping a robust workforce and increasing diversity in the industry. Lastly, in October AIAA hosts the 70th International Astro-
We have complex challenges before us and need a variety of per- nautical Congress (IAC) in Washington, DC. The theme for the
spectives and experiences to develop the innovative solutions. I Congress is “The Power of the Past, the Promise of the Future.”
hope you met some of the Diversity Scholars at AIAA forums this This annual gathering brings together the international space
year. Collaborating with AIAA’s Diversity Working Group, the AIAA communities to discuss programmatic, technical, and policy issues.
Foundation began this program last year. In 2018 we brought 70 AIAA is honored to be the host organization. This will be a major
students to AIAA forums and we are keeping the momentum going opportunity for AIAA to demonstrate its ability to convene the
this year. Fifteen Diversity Scholars attended the 2019 AIAA SciTech experts and perspectives, It’s also a chance for DC policymakers
Forum, which had record student attendance of almost 1,500! to see and touch spaceflight hardware and meet the experts. We
As we concentrate on AIAA’s 2018–2021 Strategic Plan goals, look forward to seeing the AIAA membership at IAC 2019! ★
our clear mission is to help aerospace professionals and their Have a great February!
organizations succeed. We’ll be increasing our membership and
engagement by using data to make solid decisions, leading in Dan Dumbacher, AIAA Executive Director
aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 7
TRENDING COMMUNICATIONS
Planes, trains and satellites
BY DEBR A WERNER | werner.debra@gmail.com
ow that Iridium has finished launching
N
its $3 billion constellation of next-gen-
eration communications satellites, the
Virginia company’s business partners
are shifting from initial sales and beta
testing to full-scale, revenue-generating services.
Consider Network Innovations, the Calgary,
Alberta-based company that’s one of the 30 or so
around the world that have agreed to sell Iridium
Certus, the broadband internet service that lies at
the heart of Iridium’s business plan for its Iridium
NEXT satellites.
The Calgary company says it is feeling fresh
demand since Iridium announced the official
rollout of Certus on Jan. 16, just a few days after
a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Jan. 11 with
the final tranche of 10 satellites, each about the size elected to wait for Iridium Certus, believing that it Rocky Mountaineer
and weight of a Mini Cooper. All 66 Iridium NEXT will deliver the desired coverage and speed. train passengers will have
“crystal clear” phone
satellites (and nine spares) are now in orbit with Iridium’s dozens of satellites will make “a big
calls and high-speed
crosslink antennas that will route voice communica- difference for clients who operate at high latitudes internet links, according
tions and high-speed data from satellite to satellite or in areas where a clear view to the equator is not to Network Innovations.
and to mobile customers on land, ships or aircraft. always guaranteed,” says Verheylewegen. “Certus is Rocky Mountaineer
Network Innovations had tested Iridium Certus not the first mobile broadband satellite system but
with Rocky Mountaineer, a luxury train service with it is the only one that is truly global.”
routes in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Western With the official start of the Iridium Certus service,
Canada. The final tranche of satellites should achieve “we are indeed getting more interest from clients who
the data transfer speeds that train passengers require. know the service is fully up and running,” he adds.
Iridium expects the satellites in this last tranche to The innovations aren’t just on the satellite. The
begin carrying communications in February. antenna terminals that access the network are
If all goes as planned, train passengers will for smaller than Iridium’s older terminals. Versions
the first time have “crystal clear” phone calls and are manufactured by Cobham, Thales, Collins
high-speed internet links, says Eric Verheylewegen, Aerospace, L3, Gogo and Satcom Direct. They will
executive vice president for Network Innovations. provide high-speed communications of up to 700
Cellular service for the passengers has been spotty kilobits per second with the next firmware update.
due to the mountainous terrain, and the mountains Also, they have no moving parts, and that’s important
ruled out relying on geostationary communications to Rocky Mountaineer “because the vibration on
satellites that orbit over the equator. The company trains is incredible,” Verheylewegen says. ★
ASTROS-FEA
AEROSPACE RESEARCH CENTRAL
Nastran-Compatible Structural Finite Element Solver
for Static and Normal Modes Analysis
Get technical in the Most input cards are iden�cal to Nastran. Contact us at
new year with an online Includes ZONA-MV as a post-processor for (480) 945-9988 /
displaying models, displacements, mode
journal subscription. shapes, and stresses/strains.
info@zonatech.com
Single license: Annual $900;
Perpetual $2,700.
arc.aiaa.org Corporate licenses: Annual $9,000;
Perpetual $27,000.
www.zonatech.com/astros-fea.html
aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 9
19-0261 - Journals Ad for AA.indd 1 1/18/19 8:08 AMSCITECH 2019 | SAN DIEGO
Forum Highlights
Airbus executive calls for “Buckle up:
patient tenacity in rollout 2019’s going to
of urban aircraft be busy.”
— Chris Shank, U.S.
Defense Department,
Eduardo Dominguez
Strategic Capabilities
Puerta, the head of Air- Office, on pending creation
bus’ urban air mobility of the Space Development Amy Pritchett, left, moderator and Department of
Agency Aerospace Engineering head, Pennsylvania State
unit, offered in his key-
University; Kathy de Paolo, vice president of
note address, “Flying
technology, Walt Disney Co.
Anyone From Here to
There — Anytime, Any-
where,” a straightforward “We deeply Culture of innovation is
rallying cry: “Let’s stop believe that the key to being disrupter
Eduardo Dominguez dreaming, and let’s start
Puerta, head of Airbus’
making.” final frontier The aerospace community must embrace a culture
urban air mobility unit
Dominguez Puerta — the space of innovation in order to harness the power of dis-
said the mobility revolu- ruptive technologies, Kathy de Paolo, Disney’s vice
tion will unfold in a step-
economy — is president of technology, said in her keynote address,
by-step fashion that he compared to the rise of the going to be “Applying Disruptive Technologies in Disney Parks,
computing and software industries. Thirty years ago,
opened by Experiences and Consumer Products.”
he said, there were “these weird people that try to From the “internet of things” to voice recognition
write code and create source code for machines.” manufacturing.” technology to augmented reality to robotics, Disney
The revolution is “going to take time, and we need — Andrew Rush, Made In has incorporated disruptive technologies throughout
Space president and CEO,
to be realistic,” he said. every facet of its organization.
predicting that on-orbit
Helicopters, such as the company’s Voom aircraft manufacturing will serve as “Technology is what powers the magic behind
that take customers from Sao Paulo airport to the the catalyst for the coming Disney,” de Paolo said.
space economy
city center for $120 to $140, are a first step, he said, She said Disney helped pioneer these technolo-
that will be followed by combustion-electric hybrids gies, such as in 2013, when the company introduced
and eventually all-electric aircraft. internet of things into its parks with the Magic Band.
Dominguez Puerta said it should be possible to The radio-frequency wearable allows guests to board
capture 3 to 5 percent of traffic from airports. “You know what shuttles, bypass lines, securely unlock their hotel
“That closes the business case,” he said, “and the most flexible rooms and pay for meals and photos.
doesn’t take decades.” Dominguez Puerta explained De Paolo said connected devices are enabling
that he anticipates urban mobility mixing with other robot is? A context-aware computing on a new scale and consti-
modes of transportation and complementing them. human being.” tute “a major enabler for autonomy and on-demand.”
Out of the dozens of designs in the works today — Tony Gingiss, CEO of The “juggernaut” of disruptive technology, she
by various companies, he expects the field to even- OneWeb Satellites noted, is artificial intelligence and machine learning.
tually narrow to five or six configurations or manu- “Either way,” de Paolo said, “we’re talking about enabling
facturers. Also, the first aircraft in the emerging mar- levels of autonomy previously only imagined.”
ket won’t be autonomous, he said. Machine learning applications are affecting every
“Why do I say that? If you read those draft regu- segment of every industry, de Paolo said, and orga-
lations from [FAA and the European Aviation Safety nizations must keep up.
Agency], they don’t talk about autonomy,” he said, “This is not a game where you can sit comfortably
adding that removing pilots and replacing them with on the sidelines and wait for emerging tech to become
customers is going to take until 2030. mainstream tech,” she said.
— Ben Iannotta | beni@aiaa.org — Lawrence Garrett | lawrenceg@aiaa.org
10 | FEB RUARY 2019 | aerospaceamerica .orgk More than 4,000 Attendees
k 43 Countries registered
k 1,454 Students registered
Engineers recall working “I don’t think Autonomy, electrification
on Apollo program we should be are focuses of today’s
scared about innovation
the surprises
The “Lindbergh Innovation
we’re going Forum” showcased disrup-
to find. I think tive technologies from
we should run electric to supersonic that
promise to transform avia-
toward them.” tion.
Bill Widnall, former director of control and flight
— Eduardo Dominguez Erik Lindbergh, grand-
dynamics at MIT Instrumentation Lab
Puerta of Airbus, regarding Gwen Lighter, GoFly son of Charles Lindbergh
the rollout of urban air
During the “Engineering Apollo” panel, one of the CEO and founder and president of VerdeGo
mobility craft
12 astronauts who walked on the moon and several Aero, said education is one
engineers recounted what it was like working on the of the missions of the Lindbergh Foundation. He said
Apollo program computer systems. the foundation in particular aims to keep middle school
Bill Widnall, former director of control and flight
dynamics at MIT Instrumentation Lab, said he was
“We are one students — especially girls — interested in STEM.
Part of the work is fueling innovation as aviation
in the right place at the right time. of the only enters an electric age, panelists said. GoFly, a Boe-
“My first assignment as a research assistant was industries that ing-sponsored competition, is offering a $2 million
to develop the simulations that could be used to try prize for the best design of a safe, quiet, ultra-com-
out the flight software,” he said, adding that he also will dispose of pact and near-vertical takeoff and landing aircraft
came up with one failsafe used by the Apollo pro- billion-dollar capable of carrying a single person for 20 miles
gram. “I was very proud that I put into it the ability without refueling or recharging. AIAA is one of the
to use the lunar module to push the command
assets after competition’s partners.
service module.” they’re depleted Prizes such as DARPA’s Grand Challenge, which
Don Eyles, an author and a retired computer
of fuel.” pushed autonomous vehicles, have spurred inno-
scientist who also worked at MIT Instrumentation vation, said Gwen Lighter, GoFly CEO and founder.
— Alfred Tadros, vice
Lab, said computers of that era were extremely slow. president of Space Phase 3 of the GoFly competition will be later this
“It took several hours to run one landing simu- Infrastructure and Civil year, she said.
lation,” he said, adding that extra information from Space at SSL, speaking Electrification and autonomy were common
on the need for on-orbit
Earth radars was vital for landing accurately. servicing threads for the Lindbergh Innovation Forum.
Eyles said some of the Apollo simulations ran “Autonomy increases the access to flying ma-
on “hybrid” digital-analog computers. John Tylko, chines,” said Brian Yutko, senior vice president of
who teaches the Engineering Apollo course at MIT, programs at Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing com-
explained, “At the time Apollo occurred, we were at “How does pany. “Electric propulsion increases the access to
this transition between analog and digital; and at this autonomy more types of flying machines.”
the time, analog was faster.” Supersonic is making a comeback, although with
NASA astronaut David Scott, who walked on the help us to be a quieter and more efficient profile than the Concorde,
moon during the Apollo 15 mission, described what human?” the first supersonic passenger-carrying commercial
the digital transformation meant for the astronauts. — James Cutler, associate plane, said Michael Hinderberger, senior vice president
“We learned through their programming that professor of aerospace of aircraft development at Aerion Corp.
we could do almost anything with this computer,” engineering, University The new supersonic plane is designed to be fast,
of Michigan, on moral
he said. “It’s actually amazing capability in the soft- questions that come with efficient and luxurious, with an initial eye on the
ware to enable the operator to do all these things.” development of autonomous elite business traveler.
systems
— Hannah Godofsky | hannahg@aiaa.org — Michele McDonald | michelem@aiaa.org
aerospaceamerica .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 11SCITECH 2019 | SAN DIEGO
Forum Highlights
Metal 3D printing to “This is not a On-orbit manufacturing
become routine tool game where could open final frontier
Panelists in the “On-De- you can sit Experts in the “In-Space Factories” panel discussed
mand Metal Manufactur- comfortably on advanced technologies and collaborations between
ing” session discussed government and private industry that promise to
the current state of met-
the sidelines establish on-orbit assembly, manufacturing and
al additive manufactur- and wait for servicing as the backbone of a new space economy.
ing, its challenges and
emerging tech Tom Cwik, manager
where it’s headed. of the Space Technology
Mohammad Ehteshami,
retired CEO and vice
For Mohammad to become Program and Ocean
president of Additive Ehteshami, retired CEO mainstream Worlds Technology at
Integration at GE and vice president of Ad- NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Aviation ditive Integration at GE tech.” Laboratory, said on-orbit
Aviation, the turning — Kathy de Paolo, assembly is a viable solu-
Disney’s vice president of
point came when GE decided to print an engine fuel technology tion to the longstanding
nozzle using additive manufacturing. Tom Cwik, manager challenge of limited pay-
“We created because we had to,” he said. “It was of the Space Technology load capacities of launch
Program and Ocean
fight or surrender.” vehicles.
Before additive manufacturing, the nozzle had “As engineers, Worlds Technology at
NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Alfred Tadros, vice
25 parts and traveled 5,000 to 10,000 miles during we’re system Laboratory president of Space Infra-
the manufacturing process, Ehteshami said, ex- structure and Civil Space
plaining that now, it is one part and travels 100 integrators for at SSL, said that while
meters from start to finish. a large part. today’s on-orbit satellite operations consist of most-
Panelists said they expect metal additive man- ly fixed assets, future ones must depend on serviced
ufacturing to become another useful tool. Howev-
That means assets capable of being upgraded, relocated, repaired
er, they said, until then, some challenges, including we need and refueled.
not sharing information, may hamper the process.
mechanical “We are one of the only industries that will dis-
In the earlier stages of additive manufacturing, pose of billion-dollar assets after they’re depleted
companies didn’t share because they wanted to hold engineers, of fuel, even if there’s residual capability remaining,”
onto competitive advantages. Now the advantage electrical Tadros said.
is setting standards for what works. He said SSL is collaborating with NASA and DAR-
Workforce development is another hurdle for
engineers, lots PA on separate projects aimed at advancing critical
metal additive manufacturing. Knowing the phases of different technologies in satellite servicing and exploration.
of the manufacturing process helps ensure success.
Panelists noted that skilled members of their teams
types of “It is the intention of DARPA and the U.S. gov-
ernment to motivate, incentivize, tear down techni-
are multidisciplinary. engineering cal barriers, regulatory barriers and perception bar-
Panelists agreed that metal additive manufac- and technical riers, in order to make this kind of complex on-orbit
turing is at a transition, with the expectation of it servicing a reality,” Tadros said.
becoming another useful tool. Martian soil could backgrounds.” Robert Hoyt, CEO of Tethers Unlimited Inc., said
provide the basic materials to print what space — Tamaira Ross, one of the primary challenges in growing the new
principal manager, New
explorers need, and additive manufacturing could Glenn System Definition space economy is determining how to get the need-
turn discarded metal in landfills into products, said and Design, Blue Origin, ed materials into space. He cited his company’s
Randall “Ty” Pollak, director of research and devel- on the need for technical Refabricator project as one solution. Refabricator
diversity in the aerospace
opment with Universal Technology Corp. workforce is a recycling and 3D-printing system launched to
“There’s gold in those landfills,” Pollak said. the International Space Station in November.
— Michele McDonald | michelem@aiaa.org — Lawrence Garrett | lawrenceg@aiaa.org
12 | FEB RUARY 2019 | aerospaceamerica .org“I think it’s Complex systems
really difficult changing workforce
to offer a high- requirements
touch education
Panelists in the “Workforce Needs of the 21st Centu-
through ry” session highlighted the necessity for more inno-
some types of vative, creative and adaptive engineers to meet the
Aaron Kahn, U.S. Naval Research Lab flight controls e-learning.” dynamic and accelerating challenges of the future.
Dan Dumbacher, AIAA
engineer — Eric Paterson, head of
Virginia Tech’s Department executive director, said it
of Aerospace and Ocean was during his time at NASA
Engineering, on the that he first noticed the
From rockets to gliders, advantage of in-person
education versus distance changing educational re-
autonomy finding its fit learning quirements needed to meet
the future demands of the
Panelists in the “Autonomy Across Domains” ses- aerospace industry. He said
Stephen Morford,
sion discussed how autonomy is working behind the discussion is vital today
the scenes in vehicles as disparate as space-bound
“Autonomy vice president, Pratt
to help the younger genera-
& Whitney’s Core
rockets, Vietnam-era military helicopters and bal- increases the Systems Engineering tion in particular.
sawood gliders.
“The magic here is hard to show,” said Amy
access to flying “I find it extremely im-
portant that we have this con-
Pritchett, professor and head of the Department machines. versation and look at what is needed in the industry
of Aerospace Engineering at Pennsylvania State Electric so that ... our educational system can be changed
University. up,” Dumbacher said.
Autonomy can accomplish tasks that would propulsion Tim Cahill, vice president of Integrated Air and
otherwise be impossible, said James Cutler, associ- increases the Missile Defense at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire
ate professor of aerospace engineering at the Uni- Control, said one of the primary challenges is the
versity of Michigan. For example, autonomous
access to more growing complexity of systems with more and more
systems can handle landing in a dark crater on an types of flying integration. He also cited the accelerated pace of that
asteroid, which can’t be mapped in advance, or can
machines.” growth. “There’s just not time to react,” he said.
control vehicles on Mars, despite an approximate Cahill said the biggest need in his organization
— Brian Yutko, senior vice
20-minute communications delay to Earth. president of programs, is for system engineers, simulation engineers and
“You can’t joystick or control anything that far Aurora Flight Sciences “folks [who] know how to put those big systems
away,” Cutler said. together in ways that make them effective.”
There are more than 80 programs and 400-plus Stephen Morford, vice president of Core Systems
vehicles at the U.S. Naval Research Lab, said Aaron Engineering at Pratt & Whitney, agreed with Cahill
Kahn, flight controls engineer at the lab. The auton-
“We created on the growing importance of complex systems
omous vehicles are designed to be deployed by ship, because we had integration and said that aerospace engineers need
air or air to water.
to. It was fight to “start thinking as system engineers,” capable of
One such vehicle is a fully autonomous, electric working in cognitive command and control envi-
coaxial helicopter that launches from a tube and looks or surrender.” ronments and knowledgeable about the connec-
like a flying fence post. It has 10 seconds to figure out — Mohammad Ehteshami, tivity of today’s aircraft.
which way is up, unfold and become an aircraft. vice president and retired “When I look at airplanes, connectivity of sys-
CEO, Additive Integration,
Another is a glider and, like Buzz Lightyear, “it GE Aviation, on GE’s tems is greater than it ever has been, and it’s only
falls with style” Kahn said. additively manufacturing going to get better and better,” he said.
an engine fuel nozzle
— Michele McDonald | michelem@aiaa.org — Lawrence Garrett | lawrenceg@aiaa.org
aerospaceamerica .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 13Q&A TONY GINGISS, CEO OF ONEWEB SATELLITES
OneWeb Satellites CEO Ton y
Gingiss
AIAA
Q&A
Mass producer
TONY GINGISS
POSITIONS: Since September 2017, CEO of OneWeb
Satellites, the joint venture formed by OneWeb Ltd.
and Airbus in 2015 to mass produce satellites for
neWeb Ltd.’s vision of spreading broad- OneWeb’s broadband constellation and eventually
O
band communications around the globe other customers. From June to September 2017, vice
president for the constellation’s space segment at
will require mass producing hundreds of
one OneWeb Ltd. In a 14-year career at Boeing, rose to
150-kilogram satellites. A little over three director for strategic integration of satellite systems.
years ago, OneWeb and Airbus estab-
More online lished a separate joint venture, OneWeb NOTABLE: At Boeing, led the team of 140 engineers that
got production of the GPS 2F satellites on track. “We were
aerospace Satellites, to make satellites for the main OneWeb
company and someday other customers too. The first
perpetually 18 months from launch,” Gingiss recalls. He
america. satellites produced by this venture are scheduled for
led the team through 2011 and the launch of first two
satellites. Joined OneWeb Ltd. of Florida in 2017, not
aiaa.org launch this month on an Arianespace Soyuz rocket. knowing that a few months later he would be asked to
The next challenge will be to accelerate production become CEO of the sister production company, OneWeb
from the 10 satellites built so far to about two a day or Satellites. Spends much of his time shuttling between
his home in California and production facilities in Florida
35 to 40 per month. This will be done at a newly built
and Toulouse, France.
manufacturing facility in Florida. For details, I spoke
to Tony Gingiss, CEO of OneWeb Satellites, during last AGE: 49
month’s AIAA SciTech Forum.
— Ben Iannotta RESIDES: Sierra Madre, California
EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science in aeronautical and
astronautical engineering from Purdue University in
1990; Master’s in aeronautics and astronautics from
MIT in 1992.
14 | FEB RUARY 2019 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .orgIN HIS WORDS “We’ve put a lot of work into
Balancing risks of failure making sure that these satellites,
... I gave a great analogy to someone yesterday. We were talking
at dinner, and I said, “When drones first came out, private drones, ultimately, are de-orbitable. The
I bought one for like $400.” OK, I’m an engineer, so I’m inherently
probably a little thrifty in that I don’t want to break this expensive highest reliability number we
toy that I bought. I had the HD camera and everything, and you could
fly it. I was always very cautious with it. I’d fly it and I had fun, but I have for the satellite is de-orbit
didn’t want it to get too far away. I didn’t want to crash it into a tree.
I didn’t want to get it stuck somewhere. It’s 400 bucks. I didn’t want
reliability. It’s the most important
to break it and have to rebuild it. It was fun, but it was never quite
the fun that I thought it was. Then, someone bought me a $29 micro
thing. Even higher than our
drone, a quadcopter little thing. No camera but a little controller. mission availability.”
Twenty-nine bucks. I’m like a madman with it. I’m willing to take
more risk. Every time I crashed I was thinking, “Oh. That’s $400.” It’s
like, “Oh, if I crash, it comes with this little spare bag of parts that
I bought for 6 bucks. If I really destroy it, it’s $29.” I have more fun industry doesn’t yet exist, but we’re trying to pre-position ourselves
with that thing, and I learned how to be a better drone pilot with that and our customers with hardware. That was proven hardware that
than I did with the $400 one with all the additional fancy technology, have been used for things, so that as those capabilities evolve, they
because my risk equation was different. I actually think that analogy could use them if they ever needed to.
applies to what we’re doing in the space industry today.
I’ve worked on programs that took decades to build and cost Price
things that didn’t have millions of dollars but had billions of dollars I think way early on, there was a lot of talk of a half-a-million-
after them, and those weren’t zero-risk either. Nothing we do in dollar satellite. OneWeb basically confirmed at EuroConsult that
our business — nothing you do in life — is zero-risk. It’s about they’re paying under a million dollars for a satellite. And they’re
managing risk. When you spend a billion dollars on something or buying 900 of them. That’s kind of the price point when you have a
$500 million on something and you’d spent 10 years of your life proven design, and we’ve gone through it, and you’re buying a very
and government dollars or private dollars or people’s time, the risk large quantity. I’ve always said if people want a price point, we’re
you’re willing to take that something may be a step too far is going talking about low-digit, single millions of dollars. Sub-$5 million
to be very different than if you spent sub-$10 million for one or two for a satellite that’s, in some cases, an eighth the capacity of a
of them, and you just spent 12 months developing it. geo communications satellite; a fraction of the weight, a pretty
significant fraction of the comm capability, and one-one-hundredth
Averting creation of orbital debris the price, in some cases.
We’ve put a lot of work into making sure that these satellites,
ultimately, are de-orbitable. The highest reliability number we have Satellite mass
for the satellite is de-orbit reliability. It’s the most important thing. They’re right at about 150 [kilograms], but we’ve been working
Even higher than our mission availability. The avionics and the very closely with [OneWeb] because we want to give them the best
Hall-effect thruster propulsion system [have to work], and we have capability to launch as many as possible. And if we can save a
a very high reliability that we have for that. The UK Space Agency couple kilograms a satellite, that may mean the difference between
is kind of who OneWeb works through for getting all their launch them getting 36 on a vehicle versus 34 or 32.
licenses, so that’s something they’ve been very keenly aware of and
interested in. Facilities in Florida and Toulouse
When we’re done with Florida, we will have three production lines.
Emergency handle We’ll have one in Toulouse and two in Florida. The Florida facility is
We actually designed-in what we call a grapple fixture. It’s a ground-up facility. So in the design contract for OneWeb, we’ve
essentially a fixture that ties into the main structure of the vehicle. qualified the satellite design. That’s what we’re finishing up right
It’s physically kind of a knob, if you will, that you can actually grab now. We built the first 10 vehicles, and we essentially designed and
if you had a service recovery vehicle. You could actually go pull a proved out the production system in Toulouse, France, right on the
dead satellite down. We’ve designed that in as a backup capability. edge of the Airbus facility. We have our own building.
Should we ever need that, there would always be a way to capture The Florida facility is actually a clone of that production
that satellite and bring it back down. That was designed to be tied system. We’ve proven it out over there. We clone it and basically
right into the structure so it could withstand that pulling force, and make a times-two version of it. The Florida building is probably
not pull the satellite apart, which would be worse. about four or five times larger than what it is in Toulouse. We were
I’d say we’ve put a lot of thought into [de-orbiting] right a little space constrained there because we were dealing with an
upfront. Plus, we’ve put in kind of these backup plans should existing building. The Florida facility is a ground-up facility with
we ever need some capability like that. That [on-orbit servicing] two complete factory assembly lines. That’s four module stations
aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 15Appearing at the 2019
AIAA SciTech
Forum, from left,
Heather Bulk, Special
Aerospace Services;
Ton y Gingiss,
OneWeb Satellites;
Robert Gold, U.S.
Defense Department;
and Jeff Miller,
Boeing.
AIAA
each with two full final assembly lines where we bring all the Testing
modules together and integrate vehicles, sized, basically, to do two We have test chambers. We call them Day-in-the-Life chambers,
satellites a day. or diddle [DITL] chambers, where we do thermal cycling. We do
that for a period of one to two weeks in that order. Then we have
Assembly line commissioning connectivity cabins where we actually power the whole spacecraft
We’re actually going through what we call commissioning right now with light, as you test as you fly. Power them up as they would be in
of the factory assembly line. We’re running real flight hardware orbit, and actually do SOC [satellite operations center] connectivity
through the first line. And the second line will be up about a month with the customer side.
behind that. First line should be up and producing modules starting
in March, and the second line will be up roughly a month later than The scene in Florida
that, producing module-level assemblies. Then we’ll have vehicles It’s pretty exciting. I mean Blue Origin was a little ahead of us in
coming out starting a few months later starting all the way through terms of build. I think we’ll go into production first, with building
little smaller things in there. They’ve been great neighbors. They’re
the first batch.
right across the street. At Space Florida a lot of companies have
labs and stuff in that facility. They’re literally just half a block, a
Assembling modules
block from us. So, basically, in that one little area, there’s the big
We have four module stations. We have a propulsion module,
Space Florida building, us and Blue Origin.
which is basically the propulsion tank and the thruster. We have
an avionics module, which is pretty much what you think of as the
Staffing up
bus. It has all of the star trackers, and the wheels, and the flight We are hiring. Our big push now is we’re kind of finishing up the
computer, and that kind of thing. Most of it is on a single panel. design phase. Florida is really focused on production, so we are
Then we have a payload module, which is actually several panels. hiring, basically, people to staff our factory. We will be hiring
It’s kind of the front payload Ku antenna and the side payload some engineers, but again, the near-term stuff is not really an
panels. Then we have the solar array modules or the solar wings, engineering problem. It’s a production focus, so we’ll be hiring
essentially. So, all of those things together create kind of the probably roughly 100 to 110 people just within the next six months.
web-shaped cube that you see as our vehicle, and every module is We’re right at about 170 people right now, where roughly 90 of
assembled, basically, in a single shift. Then final assembly of all of them are in Toulouse and the rest of them are in Florida. But by the
those together is less than an eight-hour shift. So, if you think every time we get into full production, we’ll be at basically 250 whereas
shift you’re producing one — and on a single factory assembly Toulouse will kind of stabilize and maybe even go down as we exit
line — you’re producing one of every type module and integrating a the production phase at least in the near-term. Then, Florida will
whole vehicle. ramp up with staffing essentially two production lines. It’s about
16 | FEB RUARY 2019 | aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org“People ask me: ‘Why haven’t knew worked. I think that what’s really novel about what we’ve done
is that if you look at the price point that we’ve established for our
we invested more heavily in design, for the kind of quality that we’re providing, but the price
point and the schedule for the design is unmatched. I mean no
robots?’ I said we’ve looked at one’s ever done it for this, at this kind of production quantity; at the
price point we’re at and at the speed.
it, and for the dollars, it was Automated inspection
cheaper to buy and have skilled We actually have a series of cameras at each of the module
stations. As you go through, all of the work instructions we have
technicians do certain things are digital. We don’t have any paper on our floor. No logging or
anything. That’s all done automatically. When the operators are
than to go invest in robots and done with certain steps, they can actually manipulate 3D models
if they wanted to see a different view of what they’re doing. Many
go that way. They’re not as easy of our work instructions have visual models, where it’s actually
showing them what to do. They’re looking at computer screens
to adapt as we probably need suspended right in front of their face above and off to the side
of one of the module stations where they’re working. There’s a
them to be. The cost-benefit series of cameras that sweep across the module that they’re
assembling, and it compares that to, essentially, CAD renditions,
just wasn’t there for us.” I’ll call it for a lack of a better term. It looks for: Are all the
parts installed correctly? Is something backward? Is something
missing? Does something look out of tolerance? And, you know,
your goal is to get to 100 percent automated visual inspection.
We’re not there. We’re probably into mid ’90s. In some cases,
maybe higher. Some modules, it’s more complicated because
there’s variations we have to account for, but we’ve achieved a
90 people to staff both production lines at a single shift, kind of really high level of automated visual inspection. It’ll flag things
full staffing. So, just right there, you have roughly 100 people just and say, “This is not right. Either something’s missing here, or
staffing the floor. something’s not installed correctly.” And it’ll actually flag it for
the operator on the screen, show them where the problem is, and
Role of Toulouse vs. Florida it will not let them continue until they resolve the issue.
OneWeb is nominally slated to be all produced in the U.S. once
we get done with the first 10. Production in Toulouse really will be Down on robots
for what we call third-party sales. So, Airbus has the third-party People ask me: “Why haven’t we invested more heavily in robots?”
sales rights, and if they’re selling into Europe, we would probably I said we’ve looked at it, and for the dollars, it was cheaper to buy
produce over in Toulouse. If we’re selling the U.S., whether it be a and have skilled technicians do certain things than to go invest in
[DARPA] Blackjack or some other commercial customer, we would robots and go that way. They’re not as easy to adapt as we probably
ultimately probably produce that here in the U.S. at one of our two need them to be. The cost-benefit just wasn’t there for us. So,
production lines here. So, we’ll maintain all three production lines everything we look at is: 1) We want it proven. It’s not that we don’t
as production. It’s really about: If we built it there for a customer want it leading-edge, but we don’t want it bleeding-edge. We want
there, why would we build it here and then ship it across the to make sure that they’re actually meeting our needs, and we’re
Atlantic? The other thing is we fully expect that we’ll have things for very, very conscious about cost and schedule, and then maintaining
certain customers who will want it to be done in the U.S., and there quality at the end. So, it’s a fine balance.
will be certain things that certain customers in Europe will want to
be done in Europe. Limited use of additive manufacturing
We actually don’t do a lot of additive manufacturing. We’ve used
Satellites to date it in a couple of areas where we think for tooling or other things
By the time we get into February, we’ll be done with all 10 [required it’s helpful. It hasn’t been a big unlocking thing for us that it’s
initially], and we’ll be ramping up Florida. allowed us to do something we couldn’t do otherwise. It’s something
we continue to look at because some suppliers will come back
Proven technology and say, “Hey, I could do the next generation of this with additive
People ask me, “Oh, is the satellite cutting-edge?” I said, “If you manufacturing and maybe bring the price down a little more or
just look at our satellite, there’s nothing about it that you say, ‘I’ve increase the volume of our production, or whatever.” So, I think
never seen this technology before.’” I would actually argue that, we’re always looking at it as a tool, but in and of itself, it hasn’t
similarly, with our production system, there’s nothing that I would been a thing that’s unlocked our ability to do what we’ve done. ★
call bleeding-edge. We wanted proven technology. Things that we
aerospaceamerica . aiaa .org | FEB RUARY 2019 | 17You can also read
